


i wanted to be (your) knight!

by i_am_sion



Series: ashedue week 2020 [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23554897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_sion/pseuds/i_am_sion
Summary: day 5 of ashedue week // confessionthe blue lions put on a play. it's a fairy tale: a knight rescues a prince from a tower. ashe is the prince, dedue is the knight, and they'resupposedto have a happily ever after.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Series: ashedue week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690933
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	i wanted to be (your) knight!

The Blue Lions class was tasked with putting on a play for the orphans Garreg Mach had taken in after the tragedy at Remire Village. 

Ashe watches, sitting atop his stool behind his parchment tower. He knows he’s supposed to look excited or despairing or something-- he’s the prince, after all. He needs rescuing and wonders just when his knight in shining armor is going to come and sweep him off his feet. Will his knight survive the witch who guards the bridge? Can he fell the ogre in the haunted forest? Can he solve the fairies’ riddle so he can finally make his way to his tower, where he’ll have to slay the dragon that guards his charge so ferociously it has eaten over a hundred knights before him?

All he can emote is... boredom.

It’s a standard fairy tale. Long, long ago, a prince was kidnapped by a ferocious dragon, and he awaits to be rescued. It’s not Loog and the Maiden of the Wind, but it’s entertaining to the children. Seteth would not allow the showing of any of Loog’s tales as they were simply too metaphorical for such a young audience to understand, so he graciously wrote them… this.

Ashe sits up a little straighter and looks out to the audience, a sea of little kids sitting criss-cross applesauce on the ground, and sees that none of them are paying attention to him in his tower. All their eyes are directed towards Dedue, who’s the hero of the story swinging a training lance at the ogre in the haunted forest. Ashe thinks he looks dashing even in fake armor.

The haunted forest is just a painted canvas backdrop that Ignatz painted for them, and the ogre is just Felix in an old oversized tunic. Ingrid is playing the witch, and the riddling fairies are Annette and Mercedes. Sylvain as the king had the duty of sending the knight off to rescue his precious son at the beginning of the play.

Dimitri was in charge of casting, and when he delegated the role of the prince in distress, he knew exactly what he was doing. 

“Ashe, you have the honor of playing the prince in the tower!”

He blanched. “What? I wanted to be the knight!”

“We all wanted to be the knight,” Ingrid said, just barely concealing the disappointment in her voice. No self-respecting lady ever wants to be cast as an ugly witch.

“I suppose our great boar prince has saved himself the spot of the knight,” snarled Felix. It seemed as if no one was happy with their roles. 

“No, actually, I will be playing the fire breathing dragon that guards the tower,” Dimitri announced. “Which means Dedue will be playing the part of the knight!”

Ashe had never seen Dedue shocked before.

“Your Highness, I would be better off playing the dragon and you the knight.”

Ashe had never seen Dedue stammer either.

“Nonsense!” Dimitri waved him off, nose buried in the script. “I might accidentally hurt our classmates as the knight. It puts me at ease to know I’m the dragon and you are the knight who defeats me.”

“Th-then why don’t you play the prince in the tower?” Ashe asked, hopefully. “If you’re concerned you’ll hurt someone, why not play a non-violent part?”

“Oh, no. I don’t want to kiss Dedue.”

“ _ **Huh?**_ ”

“The knight rescues the prince, and the two of them get married and live happily ever after. It’s a fairy tale, Ashe. Of course it has a happy ending.” Dimitri holds out the script to Ashe with a discreet wink. 

Ashe’s heart stopped. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

But he couldn’t say he didn’t want to kiss Dedue. That would sound mean. That would sound like… well, like he didn’t want to kiss Dedue. 

And he really wanted to. 

Ashe somewhat regretted telling His Highness he had a crush on Dedue. He didn’t mean to. It just came out. Ashe wasn’t so much a talkative person, but when he was nervous, he’d just start talking and seemingly never stop. 

Dedue has slain the ogre in the woods and journeys on until he encounters the two fairies before a drawbridge. The professor is narrating.

“I have cities,” Annette chirps.

“But no houses.”

“Mountains~” says Annette, prancing around.

“But no trees,” Mercedes continues for her.

“And rivers!”

“But no water.”

Mercedes and Annette lock hands and look at the knight quizzically, their heads tilted. “What am I?” They ask simultaneously.

Ashe turns and laughs behind his hand. Dedue is good at a lot of things, but acting is not one of them. He looks so stiff and awkward as he pretends to muddle through the riddle Annette and Mercedes give him. His speech is stilted. He’s supposed to be figuring out the answer to their riddle, but it just looks like he forgot his lines, which they all know is an impossibility.

It adds to the realism of it, the Blue Lions suppose. It’s not an easy riddle.

He solves the puzzle eventually: they are a map. The fairies congratulate him with a little song and dance before lowering the drawbridge that leads him to his awaiting prince. 

The knight now stands before the tower, and the dragon slithers out from behind, baring his fangs and claws and breathing horrible plumes of fire. 

With Mercedes and Annette off to the side, they use weak magic to create special effects, and the kids in the crowd are simply blown away. 

“Who dares attempt to steal away my treasure?” The dragon snarls. “His silver hair and gemstone eyes are mine!”

Ashe blinks. That’s not in the script.

“I am a knight who has traveled a long way,” Dedue announces. His voice is steady. Cool. He stands his ground firmly. This is more up his alley. He seems more comfortable like this. He’s more in his element. “I have slain the witch who guarded the bridge, and I have fell the ogre in the haunted wood. I have answered the fairies’ riddle and crossed their drawbridge. I have come to bring the prince home.”

He lowers his lance at the dragon, and Ashe feels his heart do flips.

Their fight is brief, choreographed only to look as flashy as possible. The students at this point are seasoned fighters and know much better that fighting beasts requires much more careful planning, but the action sweeps the audience off their feet. 

Ashe thinks Dedue looks incredible. He always looks incredible. 

Dimitri is nimble and quick, and it appears as if he’s got the knight backed up against a wall. He whips his claws at him, and Dedue shields himself with his spear, completely on the defensive.

“The knight despairs!” Byleth narrates. He’s gotten quite good at at least pretending to be expressive. “He’s almost running out of strength when the prince from his tower cries out--”

Oh. This is Ashe’s line. He’d almost forgotten. He was so caught up in watching Dedue perform.

“Dear knight!” He curses the stutter in his voice. “Please save me! You’re all I have! You can do it!”

The children in the crowd begin to cheer for their knight as well.

Their professor continues to voice-over as the knight, reinvigorated by the prince’s encouragement, pushes the horrible dragon back and, with a powerful yell, thrusts his spear through the monster. A cheer ripples through the audience as the beast falls.

Mercedes and Annette come and drag Dimitri’s lifeless body off the stage, and Dedue approaches Ashe in his three-foot tall tower. He puts his hands under his arms and easily lifts him up and sets him on his feet.

“And so,” Byleth says from off to the side, “the knight rescues the prince, and the two of them fall fast in love.”

This is the part where Ashe and Dedue stand center stage, holding each other’s hands and gazing tenderly into each other’s eyes. They’d practiced this many times before in the classroom with just their classmates watching, and it was… awkward at best, horribly sweaty at worst. They always stopped right before the kiss scene because Ashe always gave the lame excuse that he’d like to save it for their big performance.

And now here it is. The big performance.

The backdrop behind them rolls back up to reveal a painting of a grand hall, somewhere in a faraway castle.

“The knight returns his prince to his kingdom. The two of them get married and live happily ever after.”

Ashe’s face burns. Dedue is looking at him intently, slowly bending over to give him a kiss so the metaphorical curtain could close.

…

He chickens out.

Ashe hops off the stage and he doesn’t stop running until he hits the dormitories. Once he locks himself in the comfort of his room, he tosses his stupid paper crown into a corner. He throws himself onto his bed and allows himself to cry. He’s embarrassed and frustrated and a million things in between.

Everyone else looked so cool on stage. Ingrid really got into her character and did a perfect witch cackle. Felix didn’t even need to try to look menacing, and the kids loved him. Annette and Mercedes got to wear cute dresses and sing a lovely song. Dimitri was an excellent and ferocious dragon. And Dedue… 

Dedue took his breath away, as always.

All Ashe got to do was look pathetic and sit still on his stool. He had a total of two lines: his calling out to the knight at the end and “Oh no! Whatever shall I do?” at the very beginning.

And it wasn’t just on stage either. His classmates shone in everything else. They were all so strong and had such incredible talents. They knew so many more things about the world than he did, and they’d seen many more things. They all had responsibilities and titles to uphold. 

He’s just… a commoner. A sheltered little prince in a tower. 

He doesn’t know how long he had been wallowing in his self-pity when a knock comes on the door.

Ashe wipes his nose with his sleeve. He’s still in his costume from earlier, and it’s uncomfortable. “Who is it?”

“Can I come in?”

It’s Dedue.

“Oh…” Ashe gets up to open the door.

Outside the sun is lower, and Dedue has changed out of his fake armor and is back in his uniform. 

“Uhm, come in…” He wishes he’d cleaned up a little bit more.

“Are you alright?” Dedue asks as he steps in and Ashe closes the door behind him.

The archer chuckles shakily. “You want the truth or should I tell you I’m okay?” He pulls out the chair from his desk and sits himself back on his bed. He’s always felt so comfortable in front of Dedue, but he hopes that he can’t see that he’d been crying. “Have a seat if you’d like.”

“Thank you.” He sits across from the other. “Did I make you uncomfortable?”

“No… I wouldn’t say… Uncomfortable,” Ashe mumbles into his hands.

“May I ask what upset you so much? His Highness was at a loss when you ran off so suddenly.”

“Oh no,” he mumbles, but he also starts laughing. He can only imagine how Dimitri handled the confused children who wanted to know how the prince and knight could have possibly gotten married if the prince ran away.

“It was… amusing to say the least.”

“I can imagine.” Ashe lifts his eyes to look at the other, and his heart stops for a second but at least he can breathe normally again. He inhales deeply. “I just… I wanted to be the knight, and that… sounds childish and silly but I feel like I’m always in you guys’ shadows. The rest of the class is always so cool and I wanted a chance to at least pretend that I was like that--”

Oh, Goddess. He’s rambling now. But he can’t seem to stop.

Dedue listens intently.

“I want to look cool and rescue the prince and have a happily ever after,” he says, talking with his hands too. His hands flit around the space around his head frantically, like he’s grabbing words out of the air. “But I’m just so… I’m so _lame_ in comparison to the rest of the class.”

“You are not _lame,_ ” Dedue tries to tell him, but Ashe continues to speak over him.

“You! You always look amazing! You’re so incredible, Dedue, you can do anything! And I just… I wanted to impress you for once because I really like you!” 

Ashe chatters on so quickly, it’s as if he’s not even aware of what he’s saying himself.

“And His Highness! His Highness was just so… so _mean_ casting me to be the prince and you as the knight because he _knows_ I have a crush on you! I have the hugest, _stupidest_ crush on you--”

Dedue straightens in his seat. “Ashe--”

“And I’ve never kissed anyone before! Never!” Ashe is standing now, pacing around the room. He can’t stop himself even if he tries. There’s too much on his mind, and his head and his chest feel like they’re going to burst if he doesn’t get the words out. “So I was really nervous and I… I really wanted to kiss you, Dedue! Really! I want to kiss you so bad, it’s crazy! But then I ran away and now I’m probably never gonna get another chance to kiss you again and--”

“ _Ashe._ ” Dedue grabs him by the wrist and Ashe stops wearing a ring in his rug with his boots.

He’s staring him down intently, and Ashe can’t tell if he’s angry or excited or…

“What?”

“I am… Not sure what to say to all of that,” Dedue says.

Ashe’s face burns. He really just dumped all that silly nonsense onto Dedue, didn’t he? 

He just confessed to having a giant, stupid crush on him, didn’t he?

“I’m sorry.” He blubbers, looking away. “Forget I said any of that. I’m probably making you uncomfortable now too. I understand--”

Dedue isn’t good with words, so he simply presses his lips against Ashe’s, and Ashe promptly shuts up.

The kiss lasts for a split second. It’s nothing extraordinary. It’s not a knight and a prince’s happily ever after sort of kiss. There’s no theatrics behind it. No special effects, and they’re not acting. If Ashe blinked, he’d probably have missed it. But at the moment it’s like the air is sucked out of his lungs. The world stops spinning beneath his feet and it doesn’t matter who’s the witch or the fairies or the dragon or knight or prince, because this is _real._ This is real, and Dedue’s lips are _soft_ and his hands are large and warm and gentle and understanding on his skin. 

“Oh.”

For some reason, Ashe feels completely calm again. 

Dedue is still sitting in the chair, and Ashe is standing between his legs, his chin in Dedue’s hand.

“I was… disappointed,” he struggles to say, “when you ran off. I was looking forward to doing that… But I think this was a better place and time.”

“Y-You wanted to kiss me?”

A frown creases Dedue’s brow. “Did you… not want to kiss me?”

“Obviously I wanted to kiss you.” Ashe giggles. There’s too much blood rushing to his head and face, and this is all making him a little loopy. He’s floating on a cloud and the only thing holding him down to earth is the other’s hand on his waist. 

"Every time during rehearsal, you would run off and I was afraid you... thought the idea was disgusting."

"Because I thought you didn't want to kiss _me!_ " Ashe sways a little in his grip.

Dedue looked at him like he had hung the stars in the sky. Like he had slain a witch and an ogre and a fire-breathing dragon and answered every single riddle the fairies had in their books.

“Well then.” He looks pleased. “If I may be so bold, I would like to do it again, my prince.”


End file.
